Uganda shilling flat vs dollar, eyes on central bank

KAMPALA (Reuters) - The Uganda shilling was flat against the dollar on Friday, and traders said central bank activity would determine the currency's trend next week.
At 0830 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,382/2,387 to the dollar, unchanged from Thursday's close.
Bank of Uganda (BoU), the country's central bank, sold an unspecified amount of dollars on Thursday to stem a sharp depreciation of the shilling, but traders said that intervention only had a limited impact.
"BoU's intervention only helped slow the shilling's rate of depreciation, and now it's very quiet. Demand and supply are matched," said Charles Katongole, a trader at Standard Chartered Bank Uganda.
"Previous hawkish comments by the BoU governor and the possibility of more active intervention are keeping the market contained, with all eyes on further policy measures possibly monetary tightening, for direction," the bank said in a market report.
Katongole said the shilling would likely trade in a narrow range of 2,380 to 2,390 next week.
A dearth of dollars, soaring demand, speculative trading by offshore players and fears of post-poll violence have kept the shilling under pressure since January.
Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni won the February 18 presidential poll but although earlier fears of violence have not materialised, all his opponents, who rejected the results, have called for street protests to demand a fresh election.
Traders say the shilling could again hit 2,400 in the weeks ahead, a level last reached on January 18 and which spurred aggressive central bank intervention to beef up greenback supplies.
In the last 12 months, the shilling has lost more than 15 percent against the dollar.